


An Unlimited Canvas

by KDblack



Category: Fence (Comics)
Genre: Gen, Knitting, M/M, is this gen or is this pre-slash, probably gen but i'm tagging to be safe
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-24
Updated: 2018-12-24
Packaged: 2019-09-26 12:23:11
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,524
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17141690
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KDblack/pseuds/KDblack
Summary: It started the way most things do: with a fencing match. Practice had put Seiji up against the small boy with the long brown hair, who smiled tremulously at him at the start of the match and ended it in tears. Seiji didn't know why. They'd fenced each other before, and his victory had been as brisk and thorough then as it was now. He didn't even know the boy's name, much less what in his list of his would-be foe's faults had caused the tears. What Seiji did know was this: his opponent had cried, his roommate was mad at him, and someone was attempting to drive him mad in retribution.With knitting, of all things.





	An Unlimited Canvas

**Author's Note:**

> For Pariwhoop as part of the Fence Secret Santa event!
> 
> Prompts:  
> Seiji, doing anything  
> Seiji, knitting  
> NICHOLAS, in any manner; or a genderbend AU
> 
> Guess which one I picked~

It started the way most things do: with a fencing match. Practice had put Seiji up against the small boy with the long brown hair, who smiled tremulously at him at the start of the match and ended it in tears. Seiji didn't know why. They'd fenced each other before, and his victory had been as brisk and thorough then as it was now. He didn't even know the boy's name, much less what in his list of his would-be foe's faults had caused the tears. What Seiji did know was this: his opponent had cried, his roommate was mad at him, and someone was attempting to drive him mad in retribution.

With knitting, of all things.

A pair of socks appeared first, hung over the doorknob. Seiji assumed they were Nicholas' and relocated them. Then a scarf was slipped under the door. Again, it seemed likely that someone was returning an item Nicholas had misplaced. When the third garment, a pair of rainbow-coloured gloves, was stuck in the crack between door and doorframe, he decided that enough was enough and confronted his roommate directly.

Nicholas scowled at him. “What are you on about?”

“I said, you need to stop losing your clothing,” Seiji said as calmly as he could manage. “Every time I come back from practice, there's something new dangling from our door. Keep track of your things.”

“I have no idea what you're talking about,” Nicholas said. “I haven't been losing anything.”

“Then what are these?” Seiji brandished the offending gloves like an épée, making Nicholas flinch back reflexively. He refused to feel any satisfaction at making his roommate yelp like a startled puppy. Such pettiness was beneath him.

Nicholas glanced down, still a bit wide-eyed, then looked back at Seiji. “Knit gloves? Nice ones, too.”

“They aren't yours?”

“Nah. Not my colours. Maybe Bobby left them?”

Seiji didn't care who left them, just that they stopped being left where he had to notice them. Nicholas rolled his eyes when Seiji informed him of this.

“I'll give them back to Bobby and tell him to be more careful. You stay away from him until you've calmed down.”

“I am perfectly calm,” Seiji said, and proceeded to lock Nicholas out for the rest of the evening.

That should have been the end of things. It wasn't. Bobby – who turned out to be the small, long-haired brunet whose defeat had sparked the knit storm – insisted he wasn't the culprit. He also couldn't look at Seiji for longer than a few seconds, presumably due to lasting fencing-related trauma, which Seiji refused to feel guilt over. If he felt bad for every stepping stone in his path, he'd have no time to actually fence. But the yarn bombing didn't stop. Two increasingly elaborate scarves stuffed under the door, a pink pom-pom hat on the floor of their room, and an enormous orange sweater on his bed later, Seiji grabbed Nicholas by the shoulder and demanded to speak to Bobby again. He even said 'please.'

The short boy still wasn't able to meet Seiji's eyes. Or talk to him. One awkward conversation later, with Nicholas acting as a very bemused mediator, the true culprit was revealed.

Seiji had spent his time at King's Row happily ignoring the existence of Dante Rossi, not because he disliked the taller boy, but because there was nothing objectionable about him. Dante was in none of his classes, wasn't very sociable, and most importantly, had no interest in fencing. Seiji had passed him in the halls once or twice and that was it. The only other time they'd even seen each other was in the crowd during matches, where a mop of brown hair could be seen in the crowd at fencing matches, holding up a home-made sign. Seiji vaguely remembered glimpsing that sign when he'd crushed Bobby earlier.

The point was that Seiji had no reason to view Dante as anything but wallpaper until he had begun this calculated campaign to ruin Seiji's life. 

“You're so dramatic,” Nicholas marveled that night. Even without being able to see him, Seiji knew he was grinning that stupid doggy smile – the one that said 'wow, Seiji Katayama is a loser.' “He didn't even have to break in. All he did was ask Bobby where our room was and take advantage of it being unlocked.”

“I'm not dramatic, Zero!” Seiji snapped, glowering at the rubber ducks stretched between them. “He is violating my space! I am this close to lodging an official complaint!”

“Because that worked so well before.” The covers rustled on the other side of the room as Cox rolled over. “Coach Williams is gonna make you run suicides again.”

Seiji glared more fiercely, willing the ducks to spontaneously burst into flame. “She can't possibly have 'an upperclassman is sabotaging my fencing career with strategic knitting' written on her bulletin board.”

“Wanna bet?” Nicholas asked. “He's been here longer than we have. That paper's probably been up so long it got buried in new additions.”

“It hasn't. I've checked.”

“What, have you been memorizing all those forbidden phrases?” Nicholas didn't even sound like he was smiling anymore. He sounded – almost impressed.

“It's common sense,” Seiji replied stiffly. “Unless you enjoy running suicides.”

Another groan. “Ugh. Fine, I'll pay more attention to the wall.”

“That wasn't meant as advice.”

“Tough, I'm taking it that way.” The covers rustled again, accompanied by the sound of someone punching a pillow. “What makes you so sure he's trying to mess with you? Maybe it's a thank you.” 

“It's not.”

Nicholas was undeterred. “If it were me, I'd be pretty grateful for the gifts.”

Seiji snorted. “Don't be ridiculous, Zero. What does he have to thank me for? I drove his – whatever – to tears.”

There was a pause before Nicholas spoke again. “Seiji? Exactly why do you think Bobby was crying after you beat him?”

“He lost.” 

“Yeah. But why did he cry?”

“There's generally only one reason to cry when you're beaten.”

“Oh my god,” Nicholas groaned, his voice oddly muffled. It sounded like he was trying to smother himself. “Just – just talk to him before Coach Williams.”

“I don't see why–”

“Please.”

Nicholas saying 'please' to Seiji was almost as rare as Seiji saying 'please' to Nicholas. Despite his better judgement, Seiji gave in. He also put his headphones on for the night. He couldn't risk hearing that heartfelt plea again.

* * *

“I need to ask you something.”

Bobby squeaked like a mouse whose tail had been stepped on. He turned slowly, his gaze skittering across the floor. “Y-yes?”

There was no point in sugar-coating it. Seiji set his shoulders and prepared to step into a minefield. “A few days ago, did I make you cry?”

The smaller boy flinched, eyes jerking up to meet Seiji's for a split-second. “I – what? No. I was – I'm so sorry, I just–” He broke off, cheeks bright red. “Oh my god. This is the first time we've talked outside of fencing and I can't even string three words together. I'm a mess.”

Seiji had no point of reference to confirm or deny that statement, but he did have a vested interest in not making Bobby cry again. “It's fine,” he said stiffly. “Just – tell me. Did I say something I should apologize for?”

Bobby shook his head, his ponytail a blur behind him. “No! That was just – me, overreacting. It was all a bit intense, you know? I got to fence with you, and then get advice, and it's not like it hasn't happened before, but I just – it clicked, you know?”

Actually, Seiji didn't know, but Bobby was still talking.

“I was here, and you were here, and we were – talking, fencing, sharing the same space. Existing together. And it was a little overwhelming. So I cried.”

Seiji waited a moment, just to make sure Bobby was done, before he spoke. “I see. That's good to hear. I thought... never mind.” 

Bobby spluttered, a new stream of disconnected apologies gushing forth, but Seiji was no longer listening. He looked away, scanning the hallways for a specific figure. Sure enough, a tall boy with unruly dark hair was watching them from a distance away. It was impossible to make out his expression, but Seiji didn't put much stock in facial expressions anyway. His body language said confused, but relaxed.

“Excuse me,” Seiji said abruptly, already walking toward his new target. Bobby made no attempt to follow.

In the end, there was nothing objectionable about Dante Rossi, save for his abysmal sense of proportion. Seiji suspected the knitting had been as much to tease him as – as whatever else it was supposed to be. He had a sneaking suspicion that he might possibly have overreacted to it, regardless of the intrusion into his personal space. So, when he passed Dante in the hall a moment later, he had only four words to say.

“Thank you. Please stop.”

Dante might have chuckled, but Seiji was no longer listening. If the yarn made a reappearance in his room, so would his temper. For now, there was nothing in his head but fencing.


End file.
